Powerful typhoon downgraded in China

BEIJING—Typhoon Soulik has been downgraded to a storm after forcing the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of people in southeast China and killed at least two in Taiwan.

China's National Meteorological Center said it was downgraded to a tropical storm by late Saturday, and by early Sunday morning after moving inland from Fujian province, it had further weakened to a tropical low pressure.

The typhoon had disrupted transportation and commerce across Taiwan, cutting power to 520,000 homes around Taipei before hitting coastal Fujian on Saturday afternoon, where about 300,000 people were evacuated from their homes, according to the official Xinhua News Agency.

Earlier, Soulik had buffeted large areas of northern and central Taiwan with torrential rains, forcing authorities to close schools and businesses throughout northern Taiwan.

A falling brick killed a 50-year-old policeman in the Taipei suburb of Tanshui, while in Miaoli, a 54-year-old women died after falling from her roof. One man in the central city of Taichung was listed as missing after being swept into a raging river.

Throughout Taiwan, the National Fire Agency reported there were at least 104 injuries.